1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording method suitable for a magneto-optic recording system, and more particularly to a magneto-optic recording method capable of performing high speed accessing in addition to high density recording.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, magneto-optic disks have been well-known as a medium which utilizes the magneto-optic effect (Kerr effect) to perform recording and reproduction. The magneto-optic recording apparatus writes on the magneto-optic disk, and comprises a magnetic head placed over the top surface of a magneto-optic disk for generating an alternating magnetic field in response to a recording signal, and an optical pick-up placed under the magnetic head for beaming a laser onto the back surface of the magneto-optic disk. The data is written by the alternating magnetic field into the pit on the magneto-optic disk which is formed by the heat from the laser beam when the temperature of the medium rises to the Curie point or higher.
Magneto-optic recording is well-known for its high recording density, because the track density and line density are remarkably improved in comparison with the prior magnetic recording. In prior art magneto-optic recording, it is commonly known that data are written sequentially on the track.
However, with the above mentioned prior art magneto-optic recording, there remains the following problems to be solved:
(1) When data are written sequentially with a narrow space between pits, non-negligible thermal interference between the front and rear of the disk limits high density recording.
(2) When many data are sequentially written onto one track, the writing rate is limited by the frequency characteristics of the magnetic head employed and the capabilities of the magnetic head drive circuit. That is, the frequency characteristics of the magnetic head are much lower than those of the optical pick-up. This means that the speed of revolution of the magneto-optic disk has to be decreased. Therefore, a revolution waiting time for accessing data on a certain track becomes long, so that it is difficult to perform high speed accessing.